Op Posites
by Prosthetic Forehead
Summary: A redeemed Zabuza takes Haku to Konoha's Chuunin Exams, having never met Team 7 or Gatou. How will Haku's presence effect Naruto's life? Revived after long hiatus, merging chapters.
1. 白: Weak

Haku is a silent girl. Brought on by her abusive father's hand, or her own, I know not.

Murder, nonetheless, is a heavy weight upon a soul. The greatest destruction... I can only hope one day it will bring about a rejuvenation in her.

When we arrive in Konoha, she says something to me without words, just an inquisitive look.

"The Chuunin Exams will begin in eight days from today," I answer her.

She's bright. She easily makes the connection.

"No, you are free to explore. Use your time wisely. We are leaving after the exam is over. Don't buy anything you can't carry on your back,"

It's too risky to return, after all. It's incredible that the Hokage was willing to give us amnesty. He's too forgiving.

And I'm too trusting. Haku has softened me too much. I would have never come here, a decade ago. For my student's sake, or otherwise.

It's not Mist, at least.

Haku bows deeply and leaves.

She's a bit like a ghost, I think. Her black _hakama_ obscures the movement of her legs and feet... it looks almost as if she is floating.

She will stand out. No doubt, she will get in trouble. Haku does like to explore. She always has questions.

I'm getting some sake. Hmm, ramen might be good too.

- - -

Naruto dares to strike the tree again.

"Ttch..." Naruto bites his tongue, "Damn that hurt!"

His plan was to train. Kakashi only gave them nine days to get ready for the Chuunin Exam, and he wouldn't help them, since they 'disappointed' him...

Whatever. The point is, he's only succeeding in injuring himself.

Blood is leaking through the bandages on his hands. They're a brownish red.

The lousy taijutsu book doesn't have any pictures, so he's reduced to making sense of archaic kanji and faded ink.

"Maybe I should try kicks..." that was his weakest trait. He couldn't kick without losing his balance.

So he tried the bridge kick. Foot slightly behind the lead, swing, strike with the 'bridge' of the foot... whatever that was.

He swings hard, "S-Shitt!" the shin was not the bridge, it better not be, anyway!

He swings again. Harder this time.

Harder. Faster. More powerful.

He's not getting anywhere.

"S-Screw this! I'll just work on ninjutsu..."

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Thirty clones appear in the clearing.

"Yeahh!" they chorus.

Whatever works.

- -

Everything goes as normal. Naruto beats himself to death and stumbles back to the river where he undresses and washes by the calm current.

He feels great. The Chuunin Exam will be a cinch, no one will be able to survive a whole horde of him. He just needs to make sure Sakura doesn't get hurt – that'll be the hard part!

Naruto laughs and leans against a soft rock, liking the feel of the cool silt between his toes.

"Yeah... if I do this everyday, nonstop, I'll be so strong, that no one will be able to stop me! I'll ace this, and then I'll be one step closer to Hokage!"

Still laughing, something sharp is jerked against his throat.

Naruto inhales sharply. He's paralyzed. Strong arms are wrapped around him.

"W-What?"

And there, naked and surrounded by wilderness, Naruto discovers he's not as powerful as he thinks he is.

The body doesn't move. Naruto can barely feel its breath on his neck. Who is it? Sasuke, Kakashi, testing him? A spy? A rogue nin? Maybe he's just dreaming! Why would someone want to kill him?

Oh, that's a dumb question. Even Naruto knows that.

"Wh-What do you want?"

The nin doesn't speak.

"I..." he looks at the razor-sharp needle against his jugular – would it kill him? Maybe it would heal before he could die? Maybe...

But the nin suddenly let's go and flips right over him, twirling in the air and landing gracefully on ice...?

It's a girl.

"W-What the..." Naruto rubs his sore neck and tries standing – when did he fall over?

The girl stands on _ice_, the water frozen completely under her feet. Her arms are crossed and she has a calm expression on her face.

"A girl?" he mumbles, "Oi! Girl! Why did you just attack me?" for some reason, he's calm, he can't feel that fear anymore.

Is she not going to attack him? He doesn't think so.

"Hey! Are you listening? Are you deaf?"

She quirks her head and says gently, "No."

"Oi! Then why won't you answer? Why'd you attack me! Ya know... I think you can get in trouble for attacking a leaf-nin's vital areas without permission..."

She looks bored now. Her stance softens. Her gaze wanders.

"Hey! I'm talkin' to you! Pay attention!"

"Why?"

"Why? Because I'm Uzumaki Naruto! That's why! I'll kick your ass!"

She doesn't say anything. She goes back to ignoring him.

"Hey! You want to fight? Because if you do–"

In a blindly fast movement, the girl draws a second needle and chucks it at him. Naruto barely dodges it.

"Hey! You almost got my eye!" he growls and makes a cross with his hands.

"_KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" _

The girl is surrounded. The river is nearly dammed by all the bodies produced.

Naruto grins, "You might be really fast, but you can't take on all of me!" he laughs, assured of his triumph, "What do you say now?"

It seems, that in Naruto's excitement, he'd forgotten one important thing.

A single word.

"Naked."

Fueled by the intense shame, embarrassment, and sudden blood-transfer, all of the shadow clones exploded in poofs of smoke. Naruto hit his head on the river's bottom, again.

- -

When he regains consciousness, he's wrapped in a towel and in a bed of grass.

"W-What the..."

The girl is there across from him, sitting against a tree.

"...fuck? H-hey... aren't you that girl..." yeah, she is, "Umm, sorry for... umm... sorry,"

The girl ignores him.

"I'm not a pervert! I... I dunno. You just surprised me is all," he pauses, shakes his head and asks, "Nee! Why'd you attack me?"

"It's OK, I guess you don't have to answer... maybe you were just curious?" she was a strange girl, he got that much anyway. Stranger than Hinata.

Standing up, but paying mind to keep his towel wrapped around his... precious bits, Naruto grins slightly but finally sighs, "I guess I have a lot of work to do,"

He didn't notice it from the distance between them, before, but seeing her closer now, he could finally see her face.

He stares at it for a long time.

She eventually coughs.

"O-Oh, sorry. Your face... it's ah, interesting. Y-yeah. Anyway, I'm going to go..."

He turns around, but before he can make into a run, a piercing sting explodes in his leg.

"S-Shiiit!" he falls over.

The girl watches him with a detached interest before smiling slightly.

Naruto finally cranes his neck to look at his injured ligament.

"H-Hey! What's the big idea? You shot a needle..." he reaches for it and yanks it out, "Shit that stuff hurts!"

He tries to stand, but it hurts. He looks for a stick to pull himself up with–

"Weak."

A breeze blows between them.

"What?" did he hear right?

Did she just say, weak?

"_I'm not weak!_" Naruto throws himself up, the pain insignificant, and in all his glory, he stands before her once again. A fiery rebuttal building in his chest.

"Naked."

"Gg-Gahh!" Naruto snatches the towel off the ground and glares at it.

He whispers to it, "Stay on."

Then, he finally looks up at Haku.

"I'm not weak," he says with a little less fervor, "I–"

"_Weak_."

"I'm not weak!" he shrieks, closing the distance with a thrust of his legs–

And she trips him. He tumbles into the tree where she was sitting. Head first.

"T-tte... Ouch..." he rubs his swelling head, a little blood catching on his bandaged hand.

He stands again.

"Weak."

"I–I'm not weak..." Naruto lacks the fury of before, "I'm not..."

Before Naruto can even remove his gaze from his feet, Haku materializes before him.

She snatches his throat and buries him into the tree.

"G-Gaah..." she's choking him! "Let go!" he tries kicking her, but her free arm casually intercepts his legs.

"Naked. Weak." She says the words, still as soft, without direction or inflection.

"Young."

What?

She eases from his body, straightens herself, and starts walking away.

"H-hey!" he's coughing, but he's still calling out to her– trying to understand– is he dreaming? "What the hell is going on?!"

She fades into the shadows of the trees. Naruto can't even find her scent.

He collapses to his knees and digs his fingers into the earth, tensing up like death.

- -

Defeated, but not down, Naruto strolls out of the forest and into Konoha proper. The sakura trees spread their blossoms in the streets and people are dancing in the dim lights of evening – it's a festival? Probably for the exams.

Naruto's stomach rumbles.

"Hey! I could go for some ramen right about now!"

- - -

Haku appears at my side, looking as normal as ever.

"Two miso ramen," I order, knowing full well Haku would starve before she would speak to a stranger.

And then, a greasy runt jumps onto the counter, his face etched with fury and his teeth barred like a dog.

_"IT'S YOU!"_

I look back at Haku. She's got a strange expression now. Is she smiling? Odd.

She has a creepy smile.

_"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE IN MY SANCTUARY–"_

Seeing my expression, hers changes to something I can read.

"Ah I see,"

_Don't ask._

Haku's gotten herself another pet, does she? Strange, this one's human.

Somehow, I knew I should have known better than to let her go about unattended.

- - -

_Hakama_: I try not to make reference to Japanese clothing since it does not usually give the reader much of an image, but essentially, a hakama is the bottom "skirt" that a guy who practices kendo uses. Also seen on 'shrine workers' and the like. Haku's is not red, but black.


	2. 白: Weaker

"What did I tell you about attacking strangers?"

She looks at me. What a revolting face.

"Don't give me that look, Haku."

It's disgustingly cute. Sparkling tear-drops in her ghastly complexion – the barest bit of a pout on her swollen lips.

"Alright, alright, I get it Haku. Just stop it already, jeez..." manipulative little bitch.

I've created a monster.

"_Yare yare_... if he keeps following us I'm definitely going to kill him though,"

She actually gets a little alarmed at my joke. She's failing her arms.

"What? You don't want me to? I could drag him out to one of these alleys and hit him in the jugular," I wouldn't even need my sword, my hands alone are dense enough, "No one would hear a thing. Besides, he's just a shrimp."

"Why does everyone make fun of my height?!"

Haku and I turn to the voice in the bushes.

"You're pretty bad at stealth _ne_?"

Naruto bravely steps from the bushes. He takes a wide stance.

"What're you thinking, gaki?"

"I challenge you to a fight!"

I almost chuckle.

"Are you serious? Do you have any idea what's on my back?" my sword is obscured by a tarp, but it doesn't leave much to the imagination...

"I'll fight you, here and now! C'mon! I won't lose!"

I glance at Haku.

_Is this guy serious?_

Honestly, I've not fought anyone in a long time. Not that I'm rusty – I have to train Haku, but, since I found her, I've never run into anybody worth my time. Thugs, drunkards, mostly – occasionally a missing-nin. It would be nice to swing my sword around, but this kid's not even worth talking to.

"Kid, what do you want?"

"I want to fight you!"

It's dark, I had my sake, I didn't have my ramen. I'm tired and I don't want to deal with spoiled little boys. Especially not now.

"No you don't. You want something else. What is it?"

Naruto relaxes and folds his arms.

"Train me."

It takes me a while to process that.

"What?"

"I said," he's reluctant to say it again, "–train me!"

_Train me!_

Ethereal fog and mist lurk behind the trees. High soggy grass and foul water congeal under our feet. Mud under my toenails.

And there's Kisame... his training sword in his hand, challenging that priest.

If you seek power, I will not aid you.

I saw you! I saw you! You killed that thief!

It is regrettable.

Don't lie! You're a ninja! I know it!

Lies? I don't understand.

What are you doing sitting around praying? Stop lying to yourself! I know a ninja when I see one!

I am, I was and I am, I always will be. That too, is regrettable. But, I have no regrets. Leave here and do not–

_If you won't teach me–_

"No."

The boy's calmness collapses, "Then fight me!"

I gesture to the people that scurry past us.

"If I fought you, it would endanger innocents. And then Haku would be prohibited from entering the exam,"

"T-Then I'll fight you, over there!" he points off into the forest.

"There is no different from here..." I snort, "Besides, you're clearly unmatched. It wouldn't even be worth my time."

"Don't underestimate me!"

The priest leans to the side of Kisame's vertical slash. He grabs the fool's collar and midsection and flips him like he weighs nothing – slamming his body into the temple walkway.

His wrinkled face, obscured by noon shadows, looks up.

"Get this boy some help, would you, Zabuza-chan?"

- - -

Naruto charges forward, all of his frustration, rage, and sadness imbued into a single, wide-arcing punch.

Zabuza catches it easily. His open palm then closes on the tiny fist.

He can't fight the grin on his face, "That was pretty weak, gaki! I think Haku could punch harder than you when she was still in diapers."

"_Arghh!" _his teeth almost appear to elongate, "_Fuck you!"_

He catches his second punch.

"Don't try to hook. It's too slow. A straight punch has a better chance at catching someone off guard. Not that you would hit me, even then."

He glances at his stance, "And your weight is improperly distributed. I could flip you from here."

Before he can continue though, Haku appears besides the blond.

"Hmm? What's up Haku?"

She looks up at him, smiling just slightly.

"Shadow clone."

Just then, a flying kick comes speeding from a sakura tree behind him.

Zabuza releases the clone and pivots, barely capturing the genin's ankle just before he can bury his foot in his chin.

The swordsman holds Naruto up with one hand, his smile has changed slightly.

"Interesting. Shadow clones? And you didn't make a sound either. Perhaps you're better than I first thought."

Like a club, he slams Naruto's body into an adjacent park bench.

He goes out like a light.

"Well, that's that." Zabuza turns around to find the shadow clone he'd released seconds earlier, "Or not?"

Naruto scratches his hair sheepishly, "Ahh no, I'm done."

He explodes in a cloud of smoke.

When he turns again, Haku is at Naruto's corpse. She's examining his lifeless body with a bit of interest. It's rather cute.

"Weak."

"Huh? Oh yeah. He's weak sauce. I didn't know Konoha taught its genin Jounin-level techniques though, heh."

"You know where he lives?"

She shakes her head.

"Well, I guess..." she gives him that puppy look again, "Alright, alright! Jeez..."

"He can sleep on the floor."

- - -

Some filler? I guess there's some development here.

I know it's not much, but I have a criminally short attention span, and unless I release this, I'll just delete it and rewrite it a hundred times.

Thank you for your reviews, I really appreciate them.


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